Atik 420M Problems

[Davestanley]

I've had my 420m for about 4 months now. I use APT for imaging. I recently upgraded to APT v3. Not sure if that's part of my problem but here it is anyway. I would connect the camera, and start my session, for some reason I had to "stop" a shot, when I did, the power on apt dropped to 0 and the cooling temp dropped to 0 (it was at -20). I checked the camera and it was still running so there was still power to it. When I tried to start the cooling aid again it read err2 and wouldn't reconnect. I shut everything down and started it all up again and when the camera connected this time the temp read 387.9 degrees then dropped to 0 and I was able to get it to -20 again. But when I checked my shots the actual temp was -7 (ambient) I take 900 sec exposures so the noise was terrible. Is this a sensor problem within the camera or is it just APT. I also read it could be due to a bad usb cable. I plug my camera in so it's not a battery power issue. Any help would be appreciated thanks.

[Jo]

It sounds likely to be a software issue with APT, particularly if it only started after upgrading. It's not a known problem to us, but have you also tried asking on the APT forum/support in case other people are finding similar things?

One thing you could try is using the camera with Artemis Capture and seeing if it does the same thing. If it does, I'd try another USB. If it still does, then it's sounding more like the camera and you might be best dropping support@atik-cameras.com an email. But it sounds like APT is the place to look first!

Let us know how you get on,
Jo

[nmac]

Sorry to hijack this thread but I have exactly this problem with my Atik 420M (acquired few months ago), but it happens with AstroArt.
As soon as I stop a exposure manually, I happens the same, temperature goes nuts and camera stops
responding. I my case to restore camera funcionality I have disconnect both cables.

I happens with Ascom driver and Native ArtemisHSC Driver. Using ASCOM 6.2
With Artemis driver, temperature and power goes to 0 just after exposure stop  and cant select target temperature again.

Camera works fine with Artemis.

Regards.

Nuno

[Jo]

Hi Nuno,

This is now a known problem to us, and we are looking into a solution. We're currently in the middle of rewriting some of our core software which we're hoping will also fix this - we're aiming to run a beta test of that in the next week or so.

I'm sorry that doesn't solve things in the meantime, please bear with us and we will get to the bottom of it!

Jo

[ChrisGolden]

Hi Nuno,

Just to let you know, we have just released a new version of our software which should fix this issue. We are still in BETA testing at the moment, but if you could try out the latest software for us, that would be a big help.

You can download it from here:
http://www.atik-cameras.com/news/atik-drivers-beta-2/

Please make sure you follow the install instructions on that page.

Thanks

Chris

[nmac]

Hi! I have installed the new Beta drivers and reboot the PC as required.
For some reason the camera was detected in Artemis Capture but it wasn't found on AstroArt 6.
Either ASCOM or Native driver. Ascom List for camera selection was empty.

Maybe by mistake, I have installed the new drivers over the stable ones. Removed all and reinstalled the Beta ones.
Now working correctly on AA6. And it seems the problem in stopping exposure was solved. Thank you!
Now I need a clean night for "real" testing :-) Maybe tonight.

Regards.
Nuno

[nmac]

I have reverted back to stable drivers as my Atik 420 keeps being not detected by the beta drivers.
As soon as I reinstall the beta drivers it works again but after a reboot the camera just doesn't work.
I appears on device list correctly installed but Artemis capture does not find the camera. Native driver and
ASCOM List also do not work on Astroart.